Epke

Beautiful, hermoso, smukke, bell, mooi, belle, schön, όμορφη, bello, vakker, piękny, frumos, красивый, vackra, güzel, belo, 美しい

Gymnast Epke Zonderland is our Friday cutie...

... or actually a hottie ?

Dutch Cuties: Jacqueline Govaert & Alain Clark

Today's male cutie is handsome Dutch pop sensation Alain Clark (Haarlem, 1979). He is touted as the Netherlands' answer to Will Young.
In the video Alain's warm and inviting tone against the dry earth and grit of his ageing father's creates a perfect-fit contrast. (The song "Father & Friend" can be found on Clark’s debut album ‘Live It Out’).  

My second cutie is singer Jacqueline Govaert (1982). She has a son and a daughter and lives in Haarlem. Below, her first hit I would Stay (1999).  She had then a boyish (but cute) look and performed with band Krezip. Even after all these years  I still love I would Stay.


Alain and Jacqueline have appeared together in a Senseo coffee machine commercial for the Douwe Egberts in the Dutch telly. Good Ideas Start with Good Coffee.



Below, they sing a little piece of the song Wherever I go  in the commercial during the program De Wereld Draat Door - or simply known by the Dutch as "DWDD".

Jacqueline + Alain = Great duo !

Dutch Cuties for your Friday.

Bastiaan Ragas, singer and actor.

Tooske Breugem, actress and TV presenter.

Yes, Bas and Tooske are a couple. They met each other while performing in the musical The Three Musketeers and married to other people, Keith and Laura (photos below). Together, they have had three cute kids.

Ah, the swaps in the show bizz...

Tooske + Bastiaan = cute couple !

Dutch Cuties: John & Ramon & Humberto

My first post about Dutch cuties was a success ! I decided to introduce here some more - but no fair skin this time. And... three of them !

Cutie #1 is John Williams (Paramaribo, Suriname, 1969), a presenter and actor. John has worked in several shows on TV. I specially love seeing him on house make-up programmes, such as "Help, my man is a DIY'er" and "Help, my man has a hobby". The formula is basically the following: John and his crew come to give some help to desperate women whose husbands made a mess during the renovations. You know how everything ends: women that had completely lost their hopes in having a decent renovated home find after John's help a dream home/palace/castle. Then they cry and squeeze hug (maybe a bit too much) John Williams on the end of the show. I bet everyone knows this kind of stuff I am talking about.
Below, John plays with the fantasies of a woman in a commercial for MONA. The product is a chocolate mousse and the title of the commercial is ChocoDreams. You don't have to understand any Dutch to understand the commercial.


John Williams became the second best during the finale of show Let's Dance, with the number Single Ladies. Yes, he played Beyoncé, with beard and all (and no, he is not gay - just an irreverent actor).

Cutie #2 on this blog post is Ramon Beuk (Paramaribo, Suriname, 1972). Ramon Beuk concluded in  1992, after working in several restaurants, his cooking studies. He also took a diploma in Pedagogics. After extra marketing studies, he started working at department store HEMA as responsible for the present culinary department image of this company. After that, he started working for Unilever where he gave several workshops to large groups about the usage of new products developed by the company. His qualities as an enthousiastic presentater reached the TV companies in Hilversum. He started to have small participations in some programmes on TV and later on started his own program: Born2Cook.  Ramon owns his own Events company CuliPro, cooking school Kooktempel and a party salon De Glazen, in de city of Maarsen.
So far, Ramon Beuk has written four books: "Thais", "Finger Food", “Ramon Beuk Born2Cook” and “De Echte Beuk”. John is married and thas two daughters.
Below, in a commercial for supermaket LIDL, Ramon prepares a grilled potato, topped by entrecote accompanied by a beet sauce. Mini pieces of an apple give the final touch. So easy, I cannot imagine something Dutchier than that. Ramon's tip: when frying a piece of entrecote, use oil AND butter. Oil gets very hot - ideal for frying meat. The butter gives a nice taste and colour. Enjoy !

And last but not least: Humberto Tan (Suriname, 1965). Tan is a Dutch radio and TV anchor man, writer, DJ and fashion designer. He is married and has three kids.  He is also a lawyer - but never worked as such. You can recognize him as one of the presentators of RTL-Boulevard on RTL-4 channel.
On the film below, Humberto Tan plays himself in a comercial for Unox. Coming from work, at first his own dog doesn't recognize him. Humberto wonders why.  "Unox: at home you can be yourself".


John Williams, Ramon Beuk and Humberto Tan. All the three guys are super nice, super enthousiastic and very talented - and of course super succesful. I wish there were more, many more succesful anchor men and actors in Brazil. More visibility of the blacks in the show bizz - and not only as soccer players or singers. I have heard that lately a black actor was the main character in a Brazilian soap opera. Well, there is hope.

Dutch Cuties: Jessica and Sander

Today, inspired by fellow blogger Rachel,  I am inaugurating a series of new posts: Dutch cuties and hotties. 
We start with the category "cuties". According to Rachel, they are the ones "you find attractive but actually listen to what they have to say as opposed to just ripping off their clothes at first meeting."

My choice for the men is: actress and presentater Jessica Mendel, from TV program Camping Life, on RTL4 channel. Very accessible, polite and with the most perfect teeth, Jessica is just the girl next door. Or as the Dutch say: "the ideal daughter in law" (de ideale schoondochter) - whatever that means....

And for the women (and to whomever it pleases - it is a wide world out there): cutie Sander Janson. Aaah, life is always sunny for Sander. I cannot imagine that he actually has a life out of the south of Italy -  or the Provence. Or Greece.

They are both super charismatic, sportive, flexible, extrovert, funny and helpful.
Nope -  they are not a couple.

Grown ups love them, children love them, babies love them, pets love them. Aren't them... cute ?